Feedback wrapped up, and the next try began.
"Lin! Stun in five seconds and then fall back! Hyun-ah, as soon as the stun lands, you bail!"
"Choi Yuna! You've got plenty of aggro locked down! Pour on more damage!"
"While Kuwala's channeling its skill, you two ranged dealers empty your mana! I don't care if aggro swings—even if it does, Hyun-ah will pick it up!"
And before long, everyone except Minguk was drenched in sweat, not even five minutes into the fight. It was all because of his pinpoint instructions calling out every little move they made.
"Ashlyn! Fall back! You've stepped inside twenty meters!"
Ashlyn jolted at Minguk's warning and retreated.
Over the past month, Minguk had been nothing more than a mediocre—no, subpar—dealer. But the performance he was putting on as healer today was something else entirely. Even with his low gear specs, he was steadily keeping the party's health topped off.
But what was truly impressive was Minguk's command and leadership. His situational awareness was spot-on, his battlefield vision broad, his grasp of aggro impeccable—everything was on another level. He was even spotting when they'd unknowingly wandered into danger zones and barking warnings.
'Just who the hell is this guy?'
Ashlyn hadn't passed the Raid Qualification Exam, but since graduating from Hero Academy, she'd fought all sorts of monsters.
That was nearly five years of experience, including plenty of Grade 2 monsters that even Rank 1 heroes had to team up for. She'd raided with countless raid leaders, too. But none of them had left an impression like Minguk.
It was like watching a high-rank hero in action.
"Ashlyn! Focus on dealing damage!"
"Ah! Yes! Got it!"
Minguk's sharp voice cut through. In the moment she'd zoned out, her DPS had started to drop. Ashlyn shoved her questions aside and locked in on the attack. She could grill Minguk about it after the run was over.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Kyaaah!"
"Urghhh!"
"Damn it!!!"
Starting with the first attempt, they racked up six more wipes. And that meant six Revival Stones shattered to pieces.
The reasons for the wipes were all over the map. Most often, the party crumbled when tank Hyun-ah went down, but there were times when insufficient damage let the enraged Kuwala steamroll them.
Lin Sha had misjudged distance once and insta-died to Blood Drain, forcing an abandon. Another time, Ashlyn and Choi Yuna ate a charge from Kuwala, and they'd tossed their weapons in frustration.
Every time the raid wiped, Minguk gave feedback and kept rallying the team. Raids were all about everyone pulling together—unless your mana rank or gear was so overwhelmingly above the dungeon's level that you could solo it, success hinged on teamwork.
That meant keeping the team's morale intact was a raid leader's job, too. Luckily, the friends he'd made in this world and his three teammates were fired up against Kuwala. Their skills were middling at best, but their mental game was solid.
"Move! Now!!!"
"Uwaaaah!"
"Aaah!"
Despite the grueling string of tries, the team buzzed with energy under Minguk's orders. Each attempt built their confidence—they were closing in on Kuwala. They could see themselves improving with every pull.
They'd already weathered the Enrage phase fueled by dark mana twice. If they could just focus DPS within the time limit, they had it in the bag. One more solid push, and the clear was theirs.
And raid leader Minguk's mentality? It was beyond steel—straight titanium. He'd challenged raid bosses thousands of times for World First Kills (WFKs); this was routine.
He'd partied with trolls and deadweights aplenty back then. Compared to them, this crew was at least human.
"Choi Yuna! Charge incoming!"
At Minguk's call, Yuna—who'd been nocking an arrow—quickly stowed her bow and dodged. Kuwala barreled through with a roar, but Yuna was long gone.
"15%! We got this! Stay sharp!!!"
Kuwala's health ticked down steadily, agonizingly slow but relentless. Blood stacks were stable—only tank Hyun-ah held one. Eyes lit up around the party. No mistakes, and this try was the one.
Then, with HP dipping to around 1%, Kuwala unleashed its final desperation: Blood Drain.
"Blood Drain! Hyun-ah, evade! Dealers, unload! Lin Sha! Don't care if you die—just smash it!!!"
Revival Stones vanished at raid end, no refunds.
Minguk's bold call unleashed the dealers. They blew every cooldown, hammering Kuwala. Lin Sha bellowed, swinging her steel rod wildly. Explosive hits rained down like fireworks, shredding the boss.
Kuwala crumpled forward before it could even finish channeling Blood Drain.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Territory of the "Red Goblin Citadel" cleared. 1 Achievement Point awarded to Hero Pad. Hero Compendium entries updated.
"Yeah!"
"Kyaaaaah!!!"
"We got it! We did it! Amazing!!!"
The clear notification hit, and the team erupted—no one waited for anyone else. Only Minguk stayed cool. Truth be told, for someone who'd cleared S-1 tier—the game's pinnacle—a B-9 dungeon was child's play, like taking candy from a baby.
Running an academy raid to teach newbies was a novel twist, though. He wasn't about to rain on their parade. Instead, he eyed the loot Kuwala had dropped.
'Healer gear or a skill stone would be perfect...'
A iron chest sat at the center of the battlefield—Kuwala's trophy box, reward for the clear.
Minguk cracked it open without delay. Raid leaders always checked first; it was unspoken protocol, and no one batted an eye.
"Hmm."
He peered inside and let out a low groan, face twisting in dismay.
[Silver Ticket (90 - 110)]
'What the hell is this?'
The massive chest—big enough for hundreds of gold bars—held just a single gleaming silver ticket. Minguk rolled his eyes around, but no weapons, no skill stones. Nada.
It was beyond disappointing—straight-up absurd. GGW never skimped like this.
"Hey, what'd we get?"
Ashlyn, buzz fading, approached Minguk.
'Loot sucks, huh.'
She read the letdown on his face. But she wasn't bummed.
The real prize was the Hero Compendium entry for downing a Grade 3 monster. This morning, they'd only had three clears total. Now it was five in a day. At this pace, the Raid Quals—with just a week left—were in reach.
"Just some junk, looks like?"
"Aw, don't be down, Minguk. The real win is clearing a B-9 and bagging that Grade 3. Next one's bound to be better. So, whatcha got?"
"Uh... a weird shiny silver ticket."
"What?!"
Ashlyn peeked in and yelped at the ticket.
"A ticket! Silver Ticket! Scores 90 to 110!"
"What? A ticket dropped?"
Her near-scream drew the rest of the raid scrambling over, faces lit like they'd struck gold. Only Minguk was lost—GGW had no such thing as tickets.
"Whoa! Up to 110. Minimum 90!"
"Jackpot! How much you think it'll fetch?"
"Sell it? Nah, we gotta use it! Pull a 110 score weapon, and other bosses'll be cake!"
Lin Sha bounced excitedly at Hyun-ah, who was eyeing the ticket hungrily. Listening in, Minguk pieced it together.
'Gacha for gear? In a monster invasion world? Who cooked up this nightmare hybrid?'
Answer was obvious: Chaos. The guy who'd dumped him here was behind it.
"Minguk, sell it. A 110 Silver Ticket? At least 1,500 bucks. Auction it, maybe 1,800."
"Whoa."
Hyun-ah's words drew a genuine whistle. Clearing an easy dungeon for two million won? Split five ways, still 400k each. GGW rankers would lose their minds—quit their jobs on the spot.
"Selling's tempting, but quals come first. Why not use it?"
"No way! 1,800 bucks! Split it, 400k each. Covers back rent! Pizza and chicken too!"
Hyun-ah's brutal honesty crumpled the other three's faces. Yuna turned to Minguk, ticket in hand.
"Loot distribution follows the raid leader's call, right? What do you think, oppa?"
All eyes on Minguk. Hyun-ah's pleading gaze was intense.
"Hmm..."
His eyes flicked to the ticket.
He didn't know the custom. In GGW, players hogged all the in-game loot. But this was a team clear reward—cash value, no less.
Digging through this world's memories, yeah—Yuna was right. Raid leaders decided loot fate. Heroes called the shots for smooth clears, wielding big authority.
Of course, if anyone hated the call, they could bail to another raid. Consensus usually ruled. Even quitters got compendium updates and their cut.
"110 score's gotta be huge, right?"
Minguk asked innocently, ticket in hand.
Memories weren't fully synced—hard to gauge a 110 score item. GGW had no scores. But it beat his 55 heal staff, easy.
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